Does your heart rate drop while you sleep compared to when you are awake? Your body runs on an internal clock called a circadian rhythm. It controls both your activity and rest cycles. This project tracks how sleep changes four key vital signs.
You measure four vital signs three times during the day:
- temperature
- pulse
- breathing rate
- blood pressure These daytime readings become your baseline. Then a trained partner takes the same measurements while you are in deep sleep.
Compare the sleep readings to your daytime averages to see how your body changes at rest.
Hypothesis
The hypothesis is that sleep affects the body's functioning.
Your body runs on a circadian rhythm that shifts you from activity into rest. As it does, vital signs change in measurable ways. This project tracks four of them — temperature, pulse, breathing rate, and blood pressure — taken three times during the day to establish a baseline. Then a trained assistant takes the same measurements while you are in deep sleep. Comparing those sleep readings to your daytime averages reveals how the body changes when it enters its resting state.
Blood pressure is reported as two numbers: systolic for the push during a heartbeat, diastolic for the push between beats. Both respond to the body's state of activity or rest. Recording them during the day and again during deep sleep shows how each number shifts.
Temperature, pulse, breathing rate, and blood pressure are four key body readings that together show how you are doing. Your body runs on an internal clock called a circadian rhythm. You measure all four vital signs three times during the day, then a trained partner takes the same measurements while you are in deep sleep.
Method & Materials
You will take your vital signs three times during the day and record the data. Then, when you are in deep sleep, your assistant will take your vital signs and record the data.
You will need an assistant trained to take vital signs, a thermometer, a watch with a second hand, a blood pressure monitor, a stethoscope, and a data sheet.
Eureka Crate — engineering & invention kits for ages 12+ — monthly projects that build real-world skills. (Affiliate link)
After comparing the measurements of your vital signs during sleep with those taken during the day, an observation can be made about how sleep affects the body's functioning.
Why do this project?
This science project is interesting and unique because it allows you to observe how your body changes when you sleep.
Also Consider
Variations of this experiment could include measuring the vital signs of someone else while they sleep, or measuring the vital signs of someone who is not getting enough sleep.
Full project details
Additional information and source material for this project are available below.
